Uttarakhand CM Not the Only Neta to Pass Daft Remarks About Women

Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat’s comment on women wearing ‘ripped jeans’ has invited a fair amount of backlash.

(Photo: The Quint)

Video Editor: Deepthi Ramdas and Sandeep Suman

On Tuesday, 16 March, Rawat had said, “Showing bare knees by wearing ripped jeans just to look like rich kids is the value given now, which is just a race towards westernisation when the western world is following us today. Ripped jeans pave the way for societal breakdown and are a bad example for children.”

He had also said that youngsters go to the market to buy ripped jeans, and if they do not find one, they cut their jeans with the help of a pair of scissors.

Rawat had then referred to the clothes of a woman who once sat next to him on a flight. He said she was wearing boots, jeans ripped at the knees and several bangles on her hands, and was travelling with two children.

“She runs an NGO, goes out in society and has two children, but wears jeans ripped at the knees. What values will she impart?” he had said.

While Tirath invited backlash from women across the nation, this wasn’t his first instance of passing an absurd comment on women. Previously, he had commented on a woman attracting "male gaze" by wearing "cut sleeves".

“When I used to study in Srinagar, a girl from Chandigarh came. Sorry, she wasn’t from Chandigarh. She was ancestrally from the hills but lived in Chandigarh and came to Srinagar. What do you call them? cut...sleeves? It was new for the boys. Boys used to gaze at her as if she came from Mumbai...Why...She was made fun of. Why did everyone start following her? Have you come to the university to study or show your (bare) body?

Tirath Singh Rawat, CM, Uttarakhand  

However, Rawat isn’t the only neta to have made such remarks. Recently, BJP senior leader Kailash Vijayvargiya too invited backlash on Twitter after a ‘misogynistic’ tweet about West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.

The list of leaders making derogatory comments also features our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had mentioned Shashi Tharoor’s late wife Sunanda Pushkar, calling her a 'Rs 50-crore girlfriend'.

If our leaders and ministers pass such comments on women in this nation, how can we expect our women to be safe?